Wikimedia Foundation Inc

Nonprofit Issues:

Arts & Culture, Education

Address:

P.O. Box 78350 San FranciscoCA94107USA

Mission:

The mission of the Wikimedia Foundation is to empower people around the world to collect and develop knowledge under a free license, and to disseminate it effectively and globally. In collaboration with a network of chapters, the Foundation provides the essential infrastructure and an organizational framework for the support and development of projects and endeavors which serve this mission.

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Reviews for Wikimedia Foundation Inc

Wikipedia has changed my life. Rather, my life would be very different without convenient access at my fingertips. I use Wikipedia every day, to look up things from assignments in Astronomy courses to symphonic metal bands to the population of Stockholm to horse gaits. (I have great confidence in the accuracy of the information but it doesn't need to be 100% correct to be helpful.) And best of yet, it's free, it's available to everyone, thanks to the Wikimedia Foundation. I like donating to the Wikimedia Foundation because not only do I believe in what they're doing, but they work well with me: They don't send me junk mail. They send 1 or 2 emails (A YEAR) asking for donations and that's it. No fuss. Go Wikimedia!

I learned that many people who work for nonprofit org become greedy. When they get bigger and successful, it is common to see numerous financial issues arise. It is very sad that Wikimedia is one of them. I hate to see them writing on this Review page giving themselves 5stars. I no longer plan to donate. There are many organization run by people do not take any money. I do not like them soliciting me by email. Because I donated before does not give them right to use my email asking for money.

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

This organization is broken. The volunteers that monitor posting activity are poorly trained and do now have the skills required to know the difference between legitimate postings and spam. The ONLY way that volunteer monitoring works is with rigorous training and screening of volunteers, with ongoing quality testing to prevent an obstructive enclave from forming.

Will you volunteer or donate to this organization beyond what is required of board members?

Definitely

How much of an impact do you think this organization has?

Life-changing

Will you tell others about this organization?

Definitely

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

2011

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1 previous review

Rating:
5 stars
November 19, 201011/19/2010

Wikipedia really is the "first draft of history" and more than that, maybe a vital part of how our species is working together for the common good. The good folks at Wikimedia Foundation own and operate Wikipedia. They are dedicated to bringing free content to the world.

It is vitally important to note when talking about the Wikimedia Foundation the relative size of their projects and the relatively low cost of those projects compared to sites of similar size. With the numbers provided by Charity Navigator (which appear to be slightly lower than the published numbers on the latest Wikimedia report) the total cost of running the entire organization is only a small percentage of any other website with such traffic levels.

Alexa ranks Wikipedia as having more traffic than Twitter. Yet the administrative and hosting bills of Twitter probably dwarf the entire Wikimedia Foundation budget.

It is also important to note that most of their work is done by volunteers and the paid staff and outside contractors are there mostly to serve as administrators and facilitators to the volunteers. And those volunteers are more than willing to check the work of the foundation to ensure compliance.

One thing I would really like to see is that this organization be rated twice. Once for their work maintaining the operations of major Wikimedia projects and the other for their goals of expanding projects in overseas markets and working with organizations to expand those programs. I already know that they do a great job considering their size on keeping the websites up but I have no real chance to rate their more ambitious goals (although this is all publicly available.)

I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...

My time as a student finding research sources as well as an avid reader of topics. I also edited the English Wikipedia for a few years.

If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...

Split it into 2: One that focuses exclusively on hardware/software/system administration/legal representation/press relations for the major sites and another organization that focuses on expanding the reach of Wikipedia into new and emerging markets.

Wikipedia has changed the lives of students I have worked with in 8 countries around the world. They have all learned about the world in their own language through Wikipedia, and many of them have learned to write cited essays, or to take good photographs, in order to share something about their town with the world.

I don't know of any other project that so simply and directly allows people to share what is important in their lives in a way that will be read and remembered by others for generations. The Foundation's communications about their work and investments are as clear and approachable as any I have seen.

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

The Wikimedia Foundation is one of the leaders of the Free Culture movement and a great example of what you can accomplish if you inspire people to contribute to the common good. With a very small staff and modest budget, the Wikimedia Foundation has manged to run the 5th most popular website in the world, ad-free. No other tech company in the world has done as much to improve the educational resources available to people all over the world.

A great idea but with questionable leadership and financial dealings. I have limited resources so I will have to pass on this one and focus on organizations without the controversy.
http://www.mywikibiz.com/Top_10_Reasons_Not_to_Donate_to_Wikipedia